Red Mansion, Ningfu Scholarly Family

Chapter 97 Poison Scheme
……

After tidying up the Rongguo Mansion, it was already afternoon. The grandfather and grandson then set up a table with dishes and two jugs of wine in the study and began to eat.

After two glasses of wine.

"Grandpa, Lord Wang seems to be not very satisfied with our family?" Jia Rong expressed his incomprehension as to why Wang Ziteng was falling out with the Ningguo Mansion right now.

Why don’t you hug such a good thigh?

Jia Jing took a sip of wine and smiled faintly, explaining: "Wang Ziteng has great ambitions but little talent, and he has been unwilling to be under me for a long time. Now that I am facing Ye, he is probably afraid and wants to take this opportunity to break up with me so that he can climb up the ladder again."

Jia Rong laughed and said, "Does he intend to join Prime Minister Ye's side?"

Since ancient times, people who changed their family background would be despised. Wang Ziteng was promoted by the Jia family. No matter how many excuses he made, the hat of a slave of two surnames was firmly pinned on him.

Who dares to reuse it?

Jia Jing said disdainfully: "He is just a warrior. Does Prime Minister Ye want him? There are only upright people over there. Even if Prime Minister Ye wants to take in a lackey, his subordinates will not agree."

"Then what does Lord Wang want? Is he going to..." Jia Rong's expression gradually became serious.

"Yes! He is ready to pledge his loyalty to the Emperor!"

"only……"

Jia Jing suddenly laughed.

"The Emperor is now old and strong. The only right path for the Emperor is to keep doing his duty and be stable. At most, he can secretly win over one or two civil servants to speak in the court. The governor of the Beijing camp, hehe..."

"Even if Wang Ziteng came to the emperor on his knees and begged, would the emperor dare to accept him?"

Jia Rong smiled and said, "Master, that's a good idea! Does that mean Wang Ziteng will have to come back and apologize after he goes around?"

"It's impossible!"

Jia Jing shook his head decisively and said calmly, "The Emperor has already given me a confirmation. Before the end of the year, I will be appointed as the Minister of War and join the cabinet. By then, the Governor of the Capital Camp will be nothing more than a chicken rib to me. It's a pity to discard him. Now that he has left, it's just what I want!"

"Also, Wang Ziteng probably forgot that his position as the governor of the Beijing Camp was given to him by our Ning Mansion to avoid suspicion. It is just an empty shell. Which of the veteran officers of the 12th Camp of Kyoto will listen to him?"

Jia Rong suddenly understood.

No wonder the grandfather beat the Wang family to death this morning. It turned out that he had no intention of using the Wang family anymore.

But if this happens, one of the four great families will be missing, and they will have to support another one to serve Ningguo Mansion...

Thinking of this, Jia Rong said, "Master, I have one more thing to tell you."

"what's up?"

"When I came to Beijing to escort the tax silver, in order to cooperate with Mr. Lin's secret plan, I bought 200,000 kilograms of grain in the south. I originally planned to transport it to Shandong and sell it to make a profit, but I heard from Xue Ke..."

Jia Rong told Jia Jing in detail what Xue Ke had said that day.

Jia Jing frowned and slammed the table!
"How ridiculous! The pirates are rampant, and the grain merchants are also so rampant. Who gave them the courage?"

Jia Rong said seriously, "I heard from Xue Ke that most of the grain merchants are from Jiangnan, and they have inextricable connections with the officials in the court. The officials and merchants are in collusion, so they act recklessly."

"A bunch of hypocrites who claim to be upright!" Jia Jing sneered, "Now the national treasury is getting more and more depleted every year. We have already been living beyond our means. Not to mention disaster relief, the military pay for the northwest and northeast borders has been delayed for half a year."

"The Emperor has gradually seen through the true colors of those hypocrites, so I was able to enter the cabinet smoothly. I think the day when the Emperor will rectify the officialdom and clean up the bureaucracy is not far away."

The cabinet has always been a "battlefield of four battles", with one person taking over and the one who has the ability taking the seat.

Those who don’t have the ability will naturally go down!

"The Xue family wants to take advantage of it. Whoever can fill the void for the emperor will be able to sit on the position of prime minister in the future!"

"You can handle the Shandong affairs on your own. You can use the resources of the two prefectures at your will. Just treat it as a training. There is only one thing... You can't fall behind in studying. The provincial examination in two years is the top priority."

Jia Jing looked at Jia Rong beside him and felt that it was too early for him to be exposed to all this. However, as the only eldest grandson of the Ningguo Mansion, Jia Rong had to take on all these responsibilities in addition to studying hard and obtaining an official title.

"Master, I know!"

Jia Rong nodded heavily.

The resources of the two governments are at his disposal!

What belongs to Rongguo Mansion is also Ningguo Mansion, and what belongs to Ningguo Mansion is still Ningguo Mansion.

Or it could be said that Jia Jing was shrewd and cunning, supporting Jia She, who didn't listen to Lady Jia very much, as a puppet housekeeper, Jia Zheng went to teach, and Mrs. Wang entered the Buddhist temple, and the entire West Mansion was abandoned... In fact, it was originally abandoned, and Jia Jing just integrated the usable resources again and used them for his own benefit.

When Jia Rong came out of Jia Jing's study, the sun had already set. Jia Rong did not stay for long and immediately found Xue Ke to discuss transporting grain to Shandong and opening up Xue's grain store. Xue Ke said it was very simple and assured him, "Brother Rong, don't worry. As long as the emperor has the support of the emperor, I can open Xue's grain store all over Shandong. In the year of disaster, I guarantee that the grain price will not be higher than 50% of the normal price!"

In the past, during years of famine, the price of grain was raised several times or even ten times by merchants, forcing ordinary people to sell their land and children in order to survive. In fact, if the price is increased by 50%, it will be profitable to transport grain from other places.

Jia Rong patted Xue Ke on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Don't worry, go for it. I will transfer 300 personal soldiers from the mansion to serve as your guards. Let's see which bandit is blind."

"Thank you, brother!"

In fact, the Xue family also had guards, but they were nothing compared to the Jia family's personal guards. He had seen it when they escorted tax silver last time. The Jia family's personal guards killed the bandits as easily as chopping melons and vegetables.

"There is no time to lose. You should prepare to go south immediately. I will go and get your personal soldiers."

"it is good!"

Xue Ke went to prepare it himself.

Jia Rong went to the West Palace.

The old master of Rongguo Mansion was also a powerful man in his time. He had even more personal soldiers under his command than the one in Ningguo Mansion, but they were all sent to the farm to raise horses and farm.

How can we not make good use of such resources?
……

Back at Rongguo Mansion, Mrs. Wang was punished by Jia Jing to go to the Buddhist temple in the backyard. She was not willing to accept this and came out angrily as soon as the maids from Ningguo Mansion left.

Wu Xing's family, Zheng Hua's family, and other people, Mrs. Wang's companions were all in a panic: "Madam, what should we do?"

Mrs. Wang gritted her teeth and said angrily, "What are you afraid of! I am still the wife of the mansion even though I live in the Buddhist temple. I still have Baoyu, my eldest sister in the palace, and my brother... Who can do anything to me!"

After hearing this, the expressions of several people eased a little. They all felt that what the lady said made sense. Baoyu was the old lady's life. With Baoyu around, what was there to be afraid of?

Mrs. Wang continued, "When I, Baoyu, study hard and pass the imperial examination, they will invite me out in a sedan chair carried by eight men!

Everyone hurriedly said, "Madam is right!"

At this time, Jin Chuan'er, the maidservant beside Madam Wang, came running over and said breathlessly, "Xiao Yun from my uncle's family is here. She is waiting to see Madam in the backyard. She said she has something urgent to do."

Mrs. Wang's face lit up with joy.

It turns out that my brother hasn't forgotten her. There must be a reason why he said that in the East Mansion this morning!
"Quick, take me there!"

Mrs. Wang seemed to have grabbed a life-saving straw.

Jin Chuan'er hurriedly brought Mrs. Wang to the corner gate of the backyard. Xiaoyun was a trusted maid carefully trained by the Wang family. She often went to the Jia Mansion to deliver messages to Mrs. Wang, and they were very familiar with each other.

"Mrs."

When Xiaoyun saw Mrs. Wang, she bowed quickly.

"Don't be polite!" Mrs. Wang asked hurriedly, "Brother, do you have anything to say?"

Xiaoyun looked at Jin Chuan'er and seemed to want to say something but stopped herself.

Mrs. Wang waved her hand: "You go to the front and watch over the people!" Although Jin Chuan'er was her trusted maid, she only trusted the Wang family now.

Jin Chuan'er curled her lips and went forward.

Yun'er then whispered, "The master does have important things to do. The first thing is to ask you to take care of yourself. The Jia family has offended the Prime Minister Ye, and they are about to face disaster. Today's impeachment is evidence. The master had no choice but to do this in order to distance himself from the Jia family."

"When the East Mansion Master loses his job and his title, and the master steps on the Jia Mansion, they will naturally invite you out!"

Mrs. Wang nodded slowly.

"I see. I knew there was a reason why my brother spoke like that this morning. Go back quickly. I know what to do."

Xiaoyun added: "There is another important matter. The master needs your help, madam."

Madam Wang said, "Just tell me what you want to help. I will definitely help you if I can!"

Xiaoyun smiled and said, "We can't keep the child from Miss Feng. If the child is gone, the master will have more confidence to quarrel with the Jia family."

"Here is a packet of medicine. Tell Miss Feng to drink it today, and everything will be done!"

Xiaoyun said this and handed the medicine to Mrs. Wang.

Mrs. Wang took the medicine without even thinking about it and said with a smile, "Go back and tell your brother not to worry. I know what to do."

……

(End of this chapter)